Building material and method of making the same



. UNITED STATES ZTENT Yofi'i ica .2,o11,o94 M s? BUILDING MATERIAL AND METHOD or D mxn a'rnasnma Byers, CltyQlMof No Drawing. Application December 26, 1931, v

- Serial No. 583,407

'10 Claims. (01.196-18) invention relates to light weight, nonthe expanded vermiculi e with materials, which conducting moulded building material. when mixed will produce a mass that when The principal object of the present invention molded will retain its shape under ordinary is the provision of a light weight building mahandling and when heated, will lose a large per- 5 terial of low heat and sound conductivity and cent of its weight, and at the same time leave 5 of a permanent rigidity and form suitable for a' resilient residue sumcient to produce a pracuse under varying conditions. tical binder to hold the pieces of expanded A further object of the instant invention is vermiculite in fixed relation. the method of producing a building material ln carrying out this invention expanded verwhich consists in heating a mixture of expanded miculite of any desired size or condition is mixed 10 vermiculite and resinous emulsion to eliminate with a resinous emulsion and then subjected a larger portion of the volatile material and to to a suflicient heat to drive off most of the volaproduce a relatively thin resilient binder for the tile ingredients, without coking the resinous resiparticles of expanded vermiculite. due, which forms a very thin coating over the Another object of this invention is the method pieces of vermicym g to bind them together. 15

' of producing a building material which consists When using asphaJt, an, pitch, or any of the in baking a mixture of expanded micaceous main solution in a'n'emulsion, it is terial and a resinous emulsion to a temperature apparent tat much less of the asphalt or other below the co g temperature of said materials. hydrocarbons may be used since the volume of A still further object of the invention is the the solution is suflicient to properly cover the 20 method of producing a building material by vermiculite while the mucilaginous substance of heating a mixture of micaceous material and a the-emulsion will function to hold the vermicuresinous emulsion. me in molded form until suchtime as an ad- Other objects will be set forth in the following hesive resinous residue is'produced, by the elimispecification. nation of most of the volatile ingredients, to per- 25 The resinous emulsion as used in this invention manently bind the vermiculite together. The consists of a mucilaginous liquid in combination liquid with which the vermiculite is mixed may with aresinous material which when mixed with be such that as much as 85% or more of its the vermiculite will bind the mass in a predeweight may be eliminated from the molded mass termined form during the molding and baking without coking the residue or destroying its efiiprocess and will produce a permanent binder. ciency as a binder, thereby producing a building By the terms expanded micaceous material material of low specific gravity.

and expanded vermiculite as used in the speci- The mucilaginous, viscid, or sticky substance flcation and some of the appended claims, is contained in the emulsion should be of such a meant the product produced when vermiculite, nature as to hold the particles of vermiculite 33 in its natural state is subjected to a treatment together both in the wet and dry state, since the whereby the crystalized forms or leaves thereof resinous binder in diluted form will pr y not are partially separated to a certain extent, thus hold sufiiciently until after it has been dried increasing the volume of said vermiculite -or out to produce a residue of proper consistency. 40 micaceous material. when the building material is produced as dem It is well known that expanded vermiculite scribed above, it is apparent that each particle and other similar materials can be cemented toof the vermiculite will be coated with a very gether by asphalt, rosin, resins, etc., to produce thin layer of the resinous material, thereby proa building material, however, when so bound ducing a substantially water-proof covering for 5 together by the present known method the rethe vermiculite which preserves its form and insuiting product has many defects, such as exsulating qualities to a large degree. After the cessive weight, high cost, infiammability, lowered material is produced the outer surface may be insulating efliciency, etc. When a suflicient sanded to expose the vermiculite formation if amount of the binding material is used with desired. The building material might also be the expanded material to properly hold it tofaced with a coating of sheet material, paint, 50

gether for molding, the resultant product has a etc. to obtain difierent effects and qualities. quantity of the binding material in excess of the s nce in the emulsion may be amount actually necessary to cement the pieces extrin n silicate together. It is the principal object of this invention to overcome the above defects by mixing g es, an 1 avmg 55 a mucilaginous quality. During the baking process this sticky material which is emulsified and mixed with the resinous binder may lose its adhesiveness, but not until the resinous binder is properly formed to retain the molded vermiculite in the desired shape. nt very plastic clays, per pulp, powdered %smstos fiber, also may be fi'dTllfacilitate the inding power of the emulsion; provided that the resultant emulsion of resinous material, fiber, water and oil is sticky enough to form a temporary binder for the vermiculite mass when molded.

To produce the desired building material a quantity of expanded vermiculite of any suitable size is thoroughly mixed with an emulsion containing a resinous or resinifying material such as 1 I u resins, synthetic resins, a,

n u ans etc., placed in molds nd pressed oge er th pressure of about three pounds per square inch or more if a denser block is required.

The block is removed from the mold and gradually dried until most of the water is driven therefrom, when it may be heated more rapidly up to 500 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, dependent upon the composition. The maximum temperature used in drying or baking should not be suificient to coke the resinous residue, but only sufilcient to produce a resilient adhesive mass. Since the composition of the emulsion may vary materially, it is not practical to limit the baking heat to any definite degree. The drying of the mixture may be accomplished in any of the usual ways, but in prder to produce large quantities of the building material rapidly, it is deemed advisable to apply properly controlled heat to hasten the process. Air drying would accomplish the same results but the time required in most instances would be too long to make this method practical.

Some oils, resins, and asphalts may be emulsified by water alone or by water and aci. se in n ,ns may 0- -o n h ion providing the sticky substance formed will hold the molded article in form during molding and baking and the resultant residue is strong enough for practical use. By adding to the emulsion a quantity of asbestos fiber it has been found that a product is produced that has greater strength and rigidity.

An emulsion of sodium silicate (water glass) and asphalt produces an emulsion which permits of the spreading of a very thin layer of the solution over the vermicuiite and at the same time produces a very effective binder when properly dried out by heating and baking. While this emulsion may not produce the extremely light weight building material, yet it will produce a very practical, cheap and strong product that has most of the desirable qualities of a light weight, non-conductive and durable building material.

It will be understood that other emulsions and resinous or binding materials than those above set forth may be used to produce this building material. Furthermore, the method of driving the volatile materials from the mass may be greatly varied, dependent upon conditions and the product to be formed. Therefore, I do not wish to limit myself to the specific method set forth for the making of this novel product, but desire to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to cover Letters Patent is:

1. A building material comprising expanded vermiculite having baked therewith an emulsified resinous binding material.

2. A building material comprising a molded, expanded vermiculite jbody bound together by means of a baked resinous emulsified binding material. f

3. A building material comprising a baked mixture of expanded vermiculite, emulsified resinous binding material and asbestos fiber.

4. A building material comprising a baked mixture of expanded vermiculite and emulsified resinous binder having a specific gravity below .35.

5. A molded building material of light weight produced by heating a mixture of expanded vermiculite, a mucilaginous substance and an emulsified resinous liquid.

6. A building material produced by baking a mixture of expanded vermiculite, mucilaginous substance and emulsified resinous material at a temperature below the coking temperature of said resinous material.

7. A building material produced by expanding particles of vermiculite, mixing said expanded vermiculite with an emulsion containing a resinous material, then subjecting the mixture to a heat below the coking temperature of said resinous material, whereby the mass is made rigid.

8. The process of producing a building material which consists in molding, then baking a mixture of expanded vermiculite and a bituminous emulsion.

9. The process of producing a building material which consists in baking a mixture of. expanded vermiculite and a resinous emulsion.

10. The process of producing a building material which consists of drying a mixture of expanded vermiculite, an asphalt dispersed with bentonite and water, and sufiicient bentonite in excess of the amount required to disperse the asphalt to hold the vermiculite together while the volatile ingredients are being expelled.

WILLIAM BYERS. 

